Distant Struggles
by twenty-two-spectacles
Summary: /Title changed! originally 'Struggling'/ Peter turns up late to class - Again. This time he's particularly worse for wear. Peter struggles to balance his double life and its starting to become a mess. Movie-verse/starts after the Amazing Spider-man movie
1. Chapter 1

**Hey - this was just a silly idea in my head, I have next chapter written, i'll post it soon if people seem interested :)**

****Also, I haven't done maths in over a year and know nothing about concussions except what wikipedia told me, so sorry if the details are a bit rough**

**I do not own any part of spiderman**

**Drop a review if you've got some time, would love some tips!**

* * *

"Peter?" Mr. Cramer called as he scanned down the class role.

No response.

He tried again, "Mr. Parker?" looking up from the student list he noticed the empty desk at the back of the classroom, he let out frustrated sigh.

He knew he shouldn't be too surprised; Peter was close to failing his 80 percent minimal attendance levels and was often absent and reliably late to class. It had been this way since his uncle's death only months ago.

It was particularly maddening, Mr. Cramer thought, that his best student, and possibly the best at the school, seemed to have changed his priorities, allowing his studies to take a back seat. Other teachers at Midtown High had noticed too and it had become a common discussion point in the staffroom.

Mr. Cramer addressed the class at large "Has anyone seen Peter today?"

A few heads turned towards the empty desk before looking back the front and shaking their heads.

Missy Kallenback spoke up from the front row, "He wasn't present in Biology this morning either"

"Right," Placing a cross next to Peters name, the teacher continued down the role and started the day's lesson.

Twenty minutes passed, before the door – unfortunately at the front of the classroom – eased open to reveal a hunched over Peter Parker in the doorway, his hood pulled low and shadowing the majority of his face.

"Ah, Mr. Parker, kind of you to join us"

The students snapped their heads up from their work to look at Peter, and within a second, the whole class had their attention on him, making him feel rather uncomfortable, drawing his hood closer and lower around his face.

Peter stared at his math teacher for a moment, as if at a loss as to what to do next. Then he blinked and shook his head before mumbling a quick 'sorry', and hurrying to his seat. He stumbled as he neared the back of the room causing a few of the kids to snicker in his direction. He sat and removed his jacket, placing it over his chair.

"What's the excuse today, Peter?" Mr. Cramer asked.

Peter sighed inwardly. An excuse. What could he say? The whole class was looking expectedly at him, teacher included. His killer headache wasn't making anything easier, not to mention the pain coming from his chest and arm. He'd definitely come off worse then the 'other guy's' in last nights fight. Or was it this morning? Why was the room so bright?

"Excuse?" Peter repeated dumbly. Woah, he hadn't even meant to say that, what was going on? And why was the whole room moving?

"Yes Peter, what excuse do you have for being so late to my class?"

Peter just shrugged, adding a non committal 'meh', "don't have one" he said tiredly, earning a few appreciative laughs from his classmates.

"Well that's too bad. Stay back after class," Mr. Cramer said with a slight edge to his voice, before adding, "and please remove your hood when indoors"

Peter didn't indicate he had even heard him, he appeared to be staring, transfixed out the window, Mr. Cramer gave up and resumed his class.

He turned back to the whiteboard, writing out a new detailed equation, which the class would decipher together.

"Alright, settle down," a hush fell over the distracted students as he turned around to face the class, "who would like to have a go at explai- Peter!" Mr. Cramer changed tack at top speed, as he noticed Peter had his face down on his desk, he sat up extremely fast and looked confusedly around the room, before his eyes settled on his teacher.

"Please try to stay awake in my class!" Mr. Cramer said, "Since, you're so interested, how about _you_ tell us all the answer to this equation. Go on."

Peter swallowed, and turned his attention to the board, hating the feeling of everyone's eyes focused on him. He stared for a while, his headache making his mind feel sluggish and slow, but his mind dredged up the answer from somewhere deep inside the pain. "er, is it two over x, plus one half over x, squared, minus eight? Or something?" he added the last part on uncertainly

Mr. Cramer wrote down the said answer as Peter said it, before referring to his book and noticing Peter was, in fact, correct. That kid could solve any problem, he had a unique mind. "That is correct" he continued, "care to tell us how you got to that answer?"

"Not really" was the response he received and he almost smiled.

"Anyone else care to explain? Flash Thompson? Any ideas?"

Flash looked dumbstruck towards the board, and the class continued like this for the next few minutes until Mr. Cramer took pity on the floundering students and explained in detail, the problem.

That was when he noticed Peter, with his face down on the desk again and his hood over his head. He was really beginning to lose his patience.

"Parker!" Peter didn't even flinch. "I don't care what you do in your spare time, but in class, try to stay awake!"

No response.

"If my class is really that dull," he continued, "you can leave. Now." He hated to say it; he truly wanted the best for Peter.

Again, Peter didn't move. Mr. Cramer frowned.

The whole class watched as Liz Allen leant over and poked Peter in the shoulder.

No response again.

"Oi, Parker, wake up," she whispered as she gave his shoulder a slight shake.

Liz looked up and shrugged, at a loss for what to do. "I think he's dead, sir" Liz said in full seriousness.

Mr. Cramer sent a glare at the girl "Of course he's not dead!" he snapped, but he couldn't shake the worried feeling that had begun to creep up his spine. He walked to the back of the room, to Peters desk, taking a closer look at the sleeping form, removing the hood from over his face. It was only then he noticed the dark bruises forming around the visible side of his face, the swelling around his eye and the deep gash along his cheek.

"Peter?" he said, placing his hand on his shoulder, he was momentarily surprised when he felt wetness, lifting his hand to see it was covered in blood.

"Oh shit," he said, not caring the whole class was watching. He felt for a pulse, finding one. It was strong, but irregular. He looked up and around; the whole class was looking on in horror.

Shit. Shit. He didn't know what to do; he was a math teacher, not the school nurse! "Help me get him on the ground!" he said.

Flash was surprisingly fast to stand up, and together, he and Mr. Cramer got him to be lying on the floor. The whole class had stood up by now and was looking down at Peter, horrified at his state. Jessica Jones spoke up, "I think we should lay him on his side" remembering eighth grade health classes, "in case he chokes or something"

"Charlie!" Mr. Cramer called out and a head turned, "Go and get Ms. Arrow" He nodded and left the room at a run.

Jessica knelt down beside Peter, as did a few other students to turn him onto his side. She reached a hand out to his face and yelped in surprise. Peter's hand had flown up and he had clasped it over her wrist, and his eyes flew open. Even faster, he sat up, scooting backwards and hitting the wall. He looked around at the class towering over him, panting and at a complete loss to remembering how he had gotten onto the floor. His headache was worse, his chest felt worse and to top it all off he now felt nauseous and had difficulty breathing. The class was staring transfixed at his chest, Peter looked down and realized why. A red stain was blossoming along his front from the wound he had sustained last night and more spots of red were appearing as fresh wounds were re opened, showing all to easily through his grey shirt. This wasn't meant to happen! The school couldn't see Peter like this, to many awkward questions. He just wanted to sleep, couldn't they all leave him alone? Urgh, he felt so sick. His breaths were short and raspy. "Back away" Peter heard a voice say, "Peter?" who was speaking to him? It would be so much easier to see, he thought, if the room would stop swaying. Why was the room swaying? He thought he might throw up. Peter felt his eyes shut closed.

"No, Peter, try to stay awake" that voice said again, was it his teacher?

"That's it" Mr. Cramer said as Peter blearily opened his eyes. He was alarmed as he realized Peter's pupils were different sizes, one dilated larger then the other. He was even more alarmed as he saw a deep crimson liquid seep not from the gash on his cheek, but out of his nose. Peter raised a hand to his face before pulling it away, looking at his hand in astonishment

"Lets move you off the floor, come on"

Peter sat forward slightly before falling back again and closing his eyes. The swaying of the room was making him feel so sick. He leant over to his left and felt his stomach heave, but he hadn't eaten in – when was the last time he had eaten?

"Okay, okay, don't move" he heard the mans voice again, Peter happily obliged

It was at this point that Charlie returned with the school nurse, Ms. Arrow, and a first aid kit. Pushing through the students still gathered around Peter. She looked at him in shock.

"Everybody out! Now!" She said.

No one needed telling twice, as everyone immediately scuffled out the door, leaving only the two adults and Peter in the room.

"Peter?" Ms. Arrow asked, her voice much softer.

"Mmm?" was the response she got

"You've outdone yourself," She shook her head, he had been a regular in her office since his first year, as a result of many injuries caused by bullies or his own clumsiness. She knew this was more serious. "What have you done this time?"

Peter looked up at her and flashed a ridiculous smile, "can't," he said, "it's a secret" he gave a short laugh.

Mr. Cramer spoke up "Peter, this is serious"

"No, Steve, it's okay, he has no idea what he's saying" the nurse cut in, "He's disoriented - has a concussion by the looks of it - I don't think we'll get any useful information out of him for a while" She opened her first aid kit.

"Peter?" She asked, "I'm going to remove your shirt now, okay?"

Somewhere in Peter's hazed mind he registered this comment as slightly alarming, but he had no idea why. Oh god, was he wearing his suit? Shit. He felt another wave of sickness hit him.

Ms. Arrow noticed his eyes widen, "It's alright, you're okay" she soothed him.

He noticed his shirt was gone and stared down at his chest.

No spidey suit. And the webbing he'd used to hold together the slashes had dissolved too. Well that was lucky, double score. He vaguely registered another laugh forcing itself from his lips. The two teachers were looking at his front with horrified expressions.

They looked up to see Peter eyes had closed again, "Peter!" Mr. Cramer shouted - it was essential that he stayed awake, at least for now.

"Go get one of the students," Ms. Arrow said to the other man, "one that might get a response out of him"


	2. Chapter 2

**Heres chapter two**

**I do not own spider-man. ra ra ra **

* * *

Outside of the classroom, the math students milled about the door. No one had any idea what had happened but were curious to know. Peter Parker was often seen at school with a black eye or various other small injuries, causing a lot of speculation and rumors, but never had he come to school in a state like this; half dead-looking and delirious.

Sally Avril peered through the doors window, "Oh. My. God" she exclaimed in her shrill voice, catching the class's attention. Parker hadn't moved from his spot on the floor, but his shirt was gone and she could see the wounds on his chest as Ms. Arrow began cleaning them. She also noticed that 'Puny' Parker, as Flash had dubbed him in fireshman year, was not 'puny' at all. She noticed the well defined muscles before mentally slapping herself - now was not the time to marvel at Peter's physique! The rest of the class scrambled, trying to get a look inside through the small window as the bell rang through the hall and students poured from doors left and right. Many noticed the group and came to investigate themselves, Gwen Stacy included.

"What's going on?" she asked Liz Allen, she heard a shout come from within the class room - "Peter!" a male voice had shouted.

"Liz, what is going on?" Gwen asked again, her voice urgent.

At that point the door opened, and Mr. Cramer scanned the group, "Flash, we need your help"

Flash looked behind himself, before turning back with a bewildered expression, "Me?" he asked

"Yes, you! Hurry up!" and with that Flash reentered the classroom, leaving a confused group of students.

Liz turned back to Gwen, "It's Peter," She said, "He's gone all… weird"

"Looked like he'd been stabbed or something" another student supplied.

With that Gwen ran into the room, ignoring the protests behind her.

"- just keep him awake, say anything" Gwen heard Ms. Arrow saying to Flash Thompson who didn't seem capable of turning away from Peter's injuries.

Mr. Cramer noticed Gwen as she knelt down next to Flash and stared at Peter, "I told everyone to stay out!" he said.

"I'm not leaving" Gwen grit out between her teeth.

"How would you like it if –" He was cut short by Ms. Arrow,

"No, look, he's opened his eyes," she said, "You two, talk to him about anything" she returned to cleaning and patching the wounds, trying to staunch the flow of blood.

Both Gwen and Flash were momentarily put off by the bizarre look in Peter's eyes with one pupil larger then the other and the slow trickle of blood coming from his nose.

Flash felt a spark of guilt, the kid he had bullied for the past six years was now sitting in front of him, looking barely alive, and he was supposed to be of help? What could he talk about with Parker? Science or something? Mr. Cramer was looking at him expectantly.

"Hey Parker!" Flash said in a falsely cheery voice, having no idea what else to say, Peter threw him a withered look.

"Er, did you catch that news report on Spider-man this morning?" He said, gaining Peter's attention "by the looks of it he'd be looking nearly as bad as you at the moment, gotta watch it Parker, keep this up and everyone might start thinking your spider-man!" he gave a week laugh. Peter snorted as if he found this amusing. Ms. Arrow nodded approvingly at Flash.

Gwen was shocked into silence, Peter should have come to her, like he used to, before he reached this state. This was bad, really bad. Peter had never looked so lost.

Peter made an unintelligible sound, looking at Gwen as if waiting for her to reply, he tried again.

"Gwen" he slurred.

"Peter, I'm here" she replied.

Peter reached a scarlet hand out towards her and she took it wordlessly.

"I…" he took a breath "my head… hurts" he slurred again

"I know" she replied, "I know"

Flash just watched the exchange, feeling rather useless.

"I can't see right" Peter said "everything's moving" he moaned.

Gwen desperately wanted to know what had happened, but knew now definitely wasn't the right time.

Peter's eyes slid closed.

"Woah, Parker, stay with us mate" Flash said.

Peter sighed "I haven't… moved" he felt Gwen squeeze his hand and he tried to squeeze it back. His eyes flew open, with a definite crazed look in them now. His face split into a crooked smile and he looked up at Gwen.

"IloveyouGwen" he slurred and gave a weak laugh "love… you"

Despite the situation, the four laughed.

Peter looked confused and hurt "Why… laughing? I mean it," he said, "You're" he tried to point at her with his other hand, "my favorite" as if this made everything clear.

Gwen blushed "Peter, shhh" she giggled "you're delirious"

"Okay" he nodded. Peter would have been positively cute if the reason he was like this was not what appeared to be a serious concussion.

She tried not to focus on the fact that this was the closest they had come to a conversation since everything had happened nearly a month earlier.

Gwen watched as his face crumpled and he spoke again "no, not… not delirious"

"Okay" she replied smiling, "you're totally not delirious"

"Good" he said.

Again, Flash was watching awkwardly as the encounter between the two unfolded. Both he and Gwen looked at Peter's Injuries, noticing that the blood had stopped flowing and his chest was significantly cleaner. Now bruises at various stages of coloring were visible as well as the scars that were littered across his chest. Gwen noticed the four giant, parallel scars that had yet to fade the same time as the others in the room and remembered all to well how Peter had gotten them after an encounter with the Lizard. Just thinking about 'him' made her skin crawl.

"Shit, Parker," Flash cried out "what the hell do you do with your spare time"

"Peter?" Ms. Arrow asked, "What are these scars from?" she said tracing their raised form.

Gwen hoped Peter was 'totally not delirious' enough to not claim it was a giant lizard and so she let out a relieved sigh when Peter responded, "It's a secret" with a wink and giggle to go with. He turned his face back to Gwen and his face contorted suddenly with anguish he wrenched his hand out of Gwen's grasp.

"I'm Sorry" he said "Sorry, so sorry" his eyes closed and he gasped his hands flying to his throat "I'm sorry, didn't mean too" His breathing hitched and he began clawing at his throat as if it would somehow make him breathe easier. "So – Sorry, your Dad, he – so sorry"

Mr. Cramer pried Peter's hands away, but he continued to suck in short, loud breaths.

"Peter_, Peter_! Shhh, its okay" Peter cracked open one eye "It wasn't your fault, its okay, there's nothing to be sorry for, it was never _your _fault"

Peter visibly calmed, reaching out to take Gwen's hand again, leaving Flash, Ms. Arrow and Mr. Cramer looking on in bewilderment.


	3. Chapter 3

**This chapter doesn't feel right to me, it just doesn't have a... flow. You know?**

**Anyway, I wrote it a bit rushed, hope theres not to many mistakes.**

**Review for a fast update ;) Also, any tips or suggestions? I'd love to know :)**

**I do not own spider-man, or anything slightly Marvel related. sad face.**

**anyway, happy reading**

* * *

"I'm sorry, but _what_ exactly wasn't Parker's fault? Did I miss something?" Flash asked.

Gwen sighed "It's a long story" she left that as her explanation.

"It's part of the concussion, I'd expect," Ms. Arrow supplied, "Until his head clears up, he's going to be very disoriented and emotional." She gently turned peters face to remove the blood and clean the gash on his cheek.

There was a noise from outside the room, Gwen turned to see a young boy with his face pressed up against the glass of the small door's window. Did anyone have respect for privacy these days?

Upon being discovered the boy pretended to knock and then proceeded to enter the room.

Mr. Cramer turned and addressed the boy, "Angus, sorry you're going to have to leave"

"But, Sir, class started over ten minutes ago, we've been waiting in the hall."

The teacher put a hand to his forehead before calmly walking over to the door to attend to his ninth grade students.

"Some things come up," he said "For the rest of the lesson you are to go to the free study room"

There were a few triumphant, hissed 'yes's' throughout the group; he knew none of them would do any work.

"We'll catch up in class tomorrow" he said, "meaning we get to do two classes work in one." that wiped the smirks off their faces, "Off you go." he said and they trudged off down the hall, a few throwing curious looks into the classroom.

"I forgot about that class," Mr. Cramer said as he walked back to the small group huddled on the floor, "which makes me think, Gwen, Flash, what classes should you be in now?"

"I've got a free track" replied Gwen.

"Me too" added Flash.

"and Peter has?" Mr. Cramer asked.

"Er," Gwen hesitated, "Not sure, but I'm sure someone will tell his teacher."

"Hell, someone will tell the whole school" Flash said.

Gwen sighed, that was the last thing Peter needed.

Ms. Arrow was finishing with the wound on Peters shoulder, he looked a lot better now that he wasn't covered in blood but he was still a far cry from looking healthy. The nurse was asking Peter questions about nothing to keep him occupied.

"So what do we do now?" Mr. Cramer asked.

"Well, for me, I'll have to fill out a whole stack of paperwork," Ms. Arrow said, "But we should also get him checked out, he can't sleep until he's been assessed."

"And we should call his aunt," Gwen added, "Peter?"

"Yeah?" was his tired reply, his voice held a considerable amount of more clarity then when he last spoke which Gwen hoped was a good sign.

"Where's your phone?"

The response was far from helpful. "Huh?" Perhaps not so clarified, Gwen thought.

"Where's your phone?" she gently repeated, "We need to call your aunt"  
"Why?" Peter said his voice returning to a tired slur again

"I'll look in his jacket" Flash said.

"Actually, grab his jacket too." Gwen said, realizing Peter was most likely cold.

Flash returned with the jacket, fishing in the pocket, he found Peter's mobile.

Ms. Arrow offered to make the call and left the room and Gwen placed the Jacket around Peter's shoulders.  
Gwen had to know. It was killing her, "Peter, what happened?"

Peter just shrugged, his eyes slipping closed.

"No way buddy, you don't get away that easily." Flash said, giving Peter's shoulder a slight shake. Peter opened his eyes to send a glare at Flash, which just turned into a grimace.

" 'm tired" Peter said.

Gwen squeezed his hand.

"Sorry for being a bit harsh, earlier," Mr. Cramer apologized to Peter, feeling bad for having assumed at the time that the boy had just been disinterested in his class.

Peter waved a hand in his general direction, nearly hitting Flash in the face, "Totes cool," he said, earning a laugh from his teacher, "I even stayed back after class."

Gwen had an idea, "So Flash," she started, knowing this would get Peter's attention and maybe even answer her questions, "That report you were talking about earlier, on the news with Spider-man? What happened?"

"It was awful, poor guy" Mr. Cramer said, shaking his head before Flash could answer.

Flash opened his mouth, ready to tell the story and defend his idol, but Peter beat him too it.

"Hey!" he said indignantly, "That's cheating Gwen"

Gwen just snickered knowing, gratefully, that the other two had no idea what Peter was going on about, so she went along with it, "No idea what you're talking about Peter"

Ms. Arrow reentered the room, "Your Aunts coming to pick you up Peter, she'll be here in 20 minutes and then we've got an appointment set up for 2.00 to get your head checked out, and then you can go home"

Peter blinked a few times, "then sleep?" he asked tiredly.

Ms. Arrow smiled, "Yes, Peter, then you can sleep"

He leant his head back and closed his eyes

"Hey, Parker," Flash said, "Wake up, no sleeping yet"

"Not sleeping," Peter replied leaving his eyes closed, "not… my name"

"What?"

"Name… s'not _Parker_" his words were slurring again. "your name… not _Flash_"

"What about 'Puny' Parker? Is that better?" Flash grinned.

"What about… Eugene?" Peter replied, "That… better?"

Flash's grin was gone in an instant and replaced with a scowl. The room laughed, Peter opened his eyes to give them all a wild smile before snapping them shut again with a grimace.

"Too bright" he said, causing Gwen to share a worried glance with the nurse.

"Is that normal?" She asked

Ms. Arrow nodded, "With serious concussions, yes. I'm surprised how composed he is," she continued as Gwen looked on at Peter with obvious worry, "don't fret Gwen, he'll be fine"

"Flash?" Peter called.

"Yeah, Park- Peter?" he replied, realizing he had never used Peter's first name before.

"We friends now?" He asked.

Flash paused wondering where he was going with this, "Yeah?"

It was true, he had been getting along a lot better with Parker in the last month, he hadn't shoved him in a locker for the past six months, surely that counted as some sort of… truce?

"Why?" Peter asked.

Flash blinked, "I don't know." Man, this was awkward.

"You hated me… why?"

"I don't know." He repeated; Parker sure knew how to make someone feel guilty.

A laugh escaped his lips, "Remember," he said whilst pausing to laugh; "first day of school?" he laughed again, "You locked me in the store cupboard?"

Flash just stared, of course he remembered… now. He sent an awkward, apologetic glance to Gwen, but Peter wasn't finished.

"And remember," he paused for fits of giggles, "locker knocker time?" he laughed again, "The janitor always had to let me out."

Flash just stared not sure what else to do, feeling tremendously stupid.

"And that time," Peter continued, "You threw a basketball, at my face and-"

"Alright, that's enough excitement for one day," Ms. Arrow said, noticing Flash's obvious discomfort, whilst Peter continued to laugh lightly.

"We should move him before class finishes and lunch starts," Mr. Cramer said, "Also I have to get going, I have a meeting in ten minutes" he looked at Peter, "Rest up, so you don't have to miss to many of my really, fantastically, fun classes" he joked lightly.

Peter raised his hand to his forehead, giving his teacher the salute, "Wouldn't dream of it" he said.

"Peter, do you think you can stand?" Ms. Arrow asked.

Peter looked at her with his eyebrows raised "'course I can stand" he said, to prove his point, he tried to push himself up using the wall.

"Flash, help him." The nurse said quickly.

From that point on, the world became a swaying mess for Peter and the next hour passed in a shaky haze. He vaguely registered walking - or more accurately, being dragged along by Flash - through the school's hall and into the car park. He thought he registered his Aunts worried face at some point, taking him into a hug and helping him into their small car. Was someone holding his hand? He felt a gentle squeeze. Yep, someone was definitely holding his hand. He noticed that suddenly the walls were white. Huh. He didn't remember getting out of the car. He heard an unfamiliar voice, but couldn't make out the words. A face swam into his line of vision. Someone was poking him. He tried to swat whomever it was away, but that 'someone' was still holding his hand. They kept poking him. Couldn't they leave him alone? Ow. That hurt. Where the hell was he anyway? Why was he -?

Peter cringed as everything disappeared and was replaced with a blinding white light. His headache instantaneously came back in full force and he tried to shrink backwards, away from the light, but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared. What _was_ this place? Were they _trying_ to kill him? Some rational thought told him that these people were probably helping, but _man, _they were irritating. More talking. More poking. More- where had they all gone? He vaguely realized he wasn't in the white room anymore.

More time passed in flashes and blurs. At some point, he realized he was climbing stairs whilst heavily leaning on someone. That someone had golden hair. It was pretty.

And then it all stopped and everything was soft, comfortable and quiet.

He felt his headache ebb away and the sensation of weightlessness as he was, finally, granted sleep.

* * *

**What did you think? schools back tomorrow and i'll be super busy, but i'll try to update in the next 3 days, see you then!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Yo. So heres the fourth chapter! Hope it makes some sense, it was written pretty quickly, if you find any mistakes that really bug you, let me know. **  
**Sorry for the late upload, i seriously had no time this week, everyday I left home at 7am and got home around midnight. fun.**

**The title has been changed to 'Distant Struggles', as suggested by Deception's Call. Thanks by the way!**  
**To anon who said they would have called an ambulance, I feel really neglectful of Peter now... so hopefully this chapter fixes that little mess up :P**  
**to Anat, thanks for your review, sounds like they are rare ;) **  
**And to IHATEBACON (do you actually hate bacon?) thanks for your persistent reviews - I like the idea with Flash ;) **  
**  
Anyway, sorry long A/N, but seriously thankyou everyone for reviewing! It makes me so happy when i get a review alert. It motivates me to write...**

**I do not own any part of anything spider-man related (isn't that why I'm writing on this site? do we all just write this because... we all write this?). **

* * *

Gwen gently shut Peter's door and walked down the stairs, taking in her surroundings. She'd never been to his place before.

It was a lot smaller then her family's apartment, but it almost seemed more comfortable… more worn in and well loved.

She noticed an assortment of pictures on the wall along the staircase.

They all showed Peter, at various ages, with Peters Aunt and another man whom Gwen recognised as Peter's uncle from the time she had seen him once at school, after Peter had demolished the basketball backboard.

She looked at Peter's younger face, noticing he used to wear ridiculous glasses before he got contacts and an even more ridiculous grin. He seemed so carefree and innocent in these photos, not to mention scrawny.

One picture showed Peter at a party, sitting in front of a cake that had a large number eight on top. It looked as if the only people invited were his aunt and uncle. Gwen smiled, she knew it shouldn't be funny, but Peter truly had been such an oddball at school.

Gwen looked at a picture in which Peter appeared to be youngest. He couldn't have been older then five.

He was standing with two adults; a male and a female. She looked at the mans face, becoming increasingly aware that he shared many similar features with Peter. Was this Peter's father? If so it would make sense that the woman was Peter's mother.

In the photo, Peter was hugging his mother's legs, whilst his father appeared to be laughing. It was a happy scene.

Gwen realized she didn't know what age Peter was when his parents had left, she'd never asked. She just assumed he had never known them.

Gwen entered the small kitchen and looked at the clock; ten past three.

There, she saw Peter's Aunt sitting at the table with her head in her hands.

"Mrs. Parker?" Gwen asked softly.

Peter's Aunt lifted her eyes.

"He's asleep." Gwen informed her.

Aunt May nodded, gesturing for Gwen to take a seat. She had never met Peter's Aunt before, she wondered if Peter had ever told his Aunt about her, about anything. She decided it was unlikely.

"Well, now that's all sorted, I can finally introduce myself," the lady said, "I'm Peter's Aunt, you can call me May, or Aunt May," she waved a hand in front of her face, "None of this 'Mrs. Parker' stuff." She smiled and outstretched her hand.

Gwen smiled back and returned the handshake.

"I'm Gwen," she replied.

A look of some sort of understanding flickered across the woman's face, but for what, Gwen wasn't sure.

"Me and Peter are frie- science partners," she said, leaving the explanation as far as that, she wasn't even sure Peter considered them to be friends anymore.

Sure, he had been friendly today, possibly a little to friendly, but he was only half conscious at the time.

"Peter has a knack for finding trouble." Aunt May said.

Gwen nodded, "It seems to follow him."

Aunt May smiled, looking down and shaking her head. Gwen noticed it was something Peter sometimes did.

"So, what happened?" Aunt May asked.

Gwen shrugged, "I know about as much as you at the moment."

"Which unfortunately, is nothing." Aunt May sighed, "It's always nothing. He's always returning home so late, often injured, and he won't tell me anything! He tells me not to worry, and then, this happens." She scoffed.

"He will be fine though," Gwen consoled, "that's what the doctor said."

"I know, I know." Aunt May replied. "I'm just going to check on him" She said after a long pause, and Gwen knew she needed a moment to herself.

Gwen thought back to earlier, she had insisted on accompanying Peter's Aunt to the hospital. She sat in the backseat, never letting go of Peter's hand.

Gwen had watched as Dr. Loris assessed Peter. She had evaluated the head injury, and Gwen told her about the wound on his chest, which the doctor had then assessed too. Aunt May had looked faint when Gwen had told the doctor about Peter's further injuries and had sat down.

Gwen held Peter's hand the entire time, smiling to herself when she restrained him from weakly swatting Dr. Loris's hand away. Gwen smiled at the thought of being stronger then Peter; stronger then Spider-man. She had laughed and the doctor had given her an odd look.

When Dr. Loris had looked into Peter's eyes with a light, he had grimaced, turning his head away. The doctor quickly removed the light when she saw him in discomfort and had then addressed Aunt May and Gwen.

"He's got a concussion, for sure." the doctor had said, "But nothing a few days of good rest wont fix."

Aunt May had nodded.

"How did the injury occur?" Dr. Loris asked.

Aunt May looked towards Gwen, "I'm not sure… he skates a lot?" She had replied weakly, knowing this was far from the truth. Aunt May looked skeptical.

The doctor just shook her head, muttering something about 'kids these days' and how they 'have no idea what's good for them'.

"And the marks on his chest?" Aunt May spoke up.

"They'll be fine," the doctor had said, "They're hardly even deep, they just look nasty."

Gwen didn't believe it. The gashes that had flowed so strongly, just an hour before 'hardly even deep'? It was impossible. But Peter had always been surprising.

"Do you know when the injury occurred?" Dr. Loris asked.

"No, not the injury," Gwen shook her head, "the teacher realized about two hours ago that something wasn't right. Someone got the school nurse, and we've just tried to keep him awake since then"

The doctor stared, "Who told you to keep him awake?"

"The school nurse." She replied.

The doctor sighed, "That's an old wives tale. The best thing for a concussion is rest, and you can't get that awake, can you?" She shook her head from side to side.

"But she said he might slip into a coma and- " Gwen started, but was cut off.

"A rare chance. She also waited far too long to call us, he should have been brought straight here." The doctor said. "However, in saying that, she had a right to be cautious. For at least the rest of the day, he should be closely monitored."

"How so?" Aunt May had asked.

"When you get home, let him sleep, but he should be woken up every hour for a while, then you can start waking him up every two hours, then every 4 hours, you can slowly increase the intervals. I'll write you a basic plan to follow." The doctor said. "You should ask him simple questions each time you wake him, check if he's in any pain or if the condition is worsening."

"How will I know if he's getting worse?" Aunt May asked

"If he cannot be woken, call us. Or even if he does wake up, if he's in extreme pain, vomiting, or experiences a blood nose, deafness or bleeding from the ears, call us. It doesn't matter what time it is."

Aunt May nodded.

"But I don't think you should have any problems," Dr. Loris had continued, "He's completely stable at the moment. He just needs rest. Keep him away from screens, even his phone, as well as any strenuous physical or mental tasks."

Aunt May and Gwen nodded again.

"I doubt he'd be in any shape for school tomorrow, anyway, but definitely give him the day off, then it's the weekend, and he will probably be fine to return to school Tuesday, as long as he takes it easy," the doctor had said, "even navigating the school halls can be considered strenuous…"

Gwen returned to the present as Aunt May descended the stairs.

"He's still sleeping" She said, "Thanks for your help today Gwen, there is no way known I could have gotten Peter in and out of the car or hauled him up the stairs." She smiled, her eyes crinkling at the edges.

"It was no problem," she replied.

"Do you need to get home?" Aunt May asked.

"No, I'll stay and help," Gwen said.

"You don't have to do that"

"I do, this way we can alternate who wakes up Peter and we can both get some slightly decent sleep." Gwen replied. "I mean, only if you want the help," Gwen added, hoping she hadn't appeared too pushy.

"Of course, I would love the help, but that's unfair on you. You have school tomorrow, surely your family will want you home," Aunt May said.

"I'll give them a call, they'll be fine. School will be fine too,"

Aunt May pursed her lips, "Well if you're sure…" she continued, "I could definitely use some company… You don't have any extra things with you-"

"It's fine, I'll just drop home before school tomorrow." Gwen said.

Aunt May walked over to Gwen, enveloping her in a hug.

"You've got a good heart Gwen."

The two settled into a routine, following the plan that Dr. Loris had set out, waking Peter up at set intervals, asking him simple questions and offering him water. Everything was fine.

Gwen rang her mother, letting her know she'd see her before school in the morning and together Gwen and Aunt May made dinner.

The time passed quickly and Gwen felt at ease with Peter's aunt. She was comforting and friendly and Gwen felt as if the two had an unspoken connection with each other.

As strange as the situation was, for the first time in a month, she was beginning to feel right again.

She couldn't help but smile, as Peter's words from earlier resurfaced in her mind - even if he was practically delirious whilst stating them.

She knew now. As much as he pretended otherwise, she knew better. Peter hadn't moved on. Just like she hadn't moved on from him.

Now she just had to make him see reason.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey everyone!**

**Sorry for the super late update, school is hectic at the moment, but will quiet down in a couple of weeks, and we all know what that will mean ;) (Millions upon trillions of updates!)**

**This chapter is extra long to make up for my meanness, although it possibly drags on a bit…**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed, you guys are fantastic!**

**A****lso, THIS IS IMPORTANT! When I first thought of this story, I planned to make it a one shot, but it kind of escalated in my head and so I have to say the planning went a bit haywire SO: I have made minor changes to the first four chapters so that it lines up better with the rest of the story**

**Pretty much, I hinted at a 'villain' in the first and third chapters, but I think it's to soon for that, and a villain would only take away from the hurt/comfort genre of this story. So, if you're wondering why the mysterious villain foreshadowing just disappeared, this, my friends is why.**

**By the way, I wrote this chapter twice, one with a villain explanation and one with the police explanation, and I posted the latter.**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, I get so happy when I see the review alerts in my mail box. **

**I do not own spider-man or le speeder-man as it sounds in Spanish interviews.**

* * *

Peter watched, from the top of the world.

He just watched, as everything he knew collapsed.

It started in the centre of New York and spread outwards. Buildings crumpled and disappeared.

Goodbye Oscorp tower.

Peter watched as the tremor rippled outwards.

Farewell Midtown High. The school fell before fading away.

It struck Peter as odd that there was not one person in the city, creating an eerie silence and an empty sight. Everyone was gone. There was no sound, only an ominous peace. As if everything was wrong, yet perfect at the same time.

He watched as the Brooklyn Bridge finally gave in and plummeted to the water.

He watched as Gwen's apartment block fell to the ground. But he knew she was safe.

The tremor continued on, towards Queens.

Street by street fell, leaving cavernous holes in the earth.

Finally the tremor reach Peter's home and he watched, as it too, fell.

And then everything disappeared. Peter found himself sitting in a chair, surrounded by water. A single lamppost cast a shimmering bronze light across the vast ocean.

It lit a pathway towards two figures.

Everything was calm here, it was beautiful.

As Peter saw them, they began to walk towards him, along the illuminated path. He desperately wanted to see their faces, but the light cast them into shadows. They were so close, yet so frustratingly far.

Then, what could only be the brightest light in the world appeared behind the two figures, growing bigger and brighter at an alarming rate. He saw a flash of green as his eye's met with Gwen's, before all was lost. He reached out to them. They were so close.

Then the train hit. Peter barely had time to register what happened before the train also continued into him, with a resounding crash as everything was destroyed.

"Peter?"

Peter's eyes flew open, he felt someone let go of his shoulder. Blinking rapidly to bring his surroundings into focus, he realized he was in his room. He turned his head, remembering someone else was in his room and his senses kicked in.

Peter sat up, leaping off the bed and coming into a defensive crouch across the room, over the other side of the bed, subconsciously curling his fists, expecting to feel his web shooters. His world began to spin and he felt a killer headache begin to form somewhere behind his eyes.

Only then did Peter get a good look at the person in the room, sitting by his desk, with their hands raised in what he supposed was meant to be a reassuring gesture.

Oh no. This was bad.

"Peter it's just me I-"

"Gwen?" Peter asked stupidly.

"Peter, relax you're not well" Gwen said, sounding worried and slightly fearful.

Peter didn't leave his crouched position on the floor. He noticed he was shirtless. That was awkward.

"What the hell is going on?" Peter said quickly, "And what are you doing here?" he added suddenly, unintentionally adding an edge to his voice, realizing that despite his efforts to 'leave Gwen out of it' for the past month, here she was sitting in his room and all the while, he was shirtless and in a defensive position.

Realizing how ridiculous this was, he relaxed his muscles and stood. He was surprised at how tight all his joints felt. He rolled his shoulders and heard something crack. Urgh.

Peter groaned as a thumping started up behind his eyes, it was insistent and annoying, making it hard to think straight.

Gwen looked dismayed, as if she hadn't expected that, but Peter was beginning to freak out. He was in his room, shirtless, with Gwen, and couldn't remember anything that had led up to this moment.

"Peter, sit down," Gwen pleaded, noticing his obvious discomfort, "I'll explain what happened – or at least part of it."

After a moment of deliberation, Peter sat back down on the bed, making an effort to stay as far away as possible, despite the majority of his brain screaming profanities at him to do the opposite. Gwen noticed the obvious empty space between them and her shoulders sagged.

"Hello, to you too" She muttered, diverting her gaze towards the ground.

Peter just stared. He looked around for something to distract himself. He really needed a shirt. Conveniently, he spotted one of the floor next to the bed and snatched it up, hastily putting it on.

Gwen looked up, "You know that's inside out right?" her tone and expression unreadable.

Peter looked down. Why did he have to be such a dork? "Meant it" he said sheepishly.

A smile tugged at the corners of Gwen's lips. "Of course you did"

Peter was feeling rather self conscious now; not just about the t-shirt mishap – which he quickly fixed – but he also realized this was the first time Gwen had seen his room; his house even. Before this, she'd never been past the porch.

He felt as if his room reflected him. The average teenage mess, yet his unique form of order as well as the photos, posters and row of boards that adorned the walls. Not to mention the 'wanted' sketch, of his uncle's killer pinned above his computer, right next to where Gwen was sitting.

Peter fidgeted, automatically touching his left wrist, and feeling vulnerable when his hand came into contact with skin and not his web shooter. He noticed Gwen, silently observing him and he reached up to scratch the back of his neck, feeling immensely awkward.

"So yeah… er, this is my room" He said, "and stuff," he added on lamely, mentally cringing.

Gwen looked around, "Oh, I thought it was your Aunts." She said sarcastically. "You like Alfred Hitchcock films?" She asked, pointing towards the 'Rear Window' poster next to the window.

Peter shrugged, "The poster was cool" he replied.

"They've always creeped me out, personally" Gwen said.

Peter just shrugged again, "Fair enough."

An awkward silence settled upon them again. It was almost painful. He had to say something.

"So…" he started, "Not to be rude or anything, but _why _are you here?" As soon as the words left his mouth he cringed. That definitely came out rude. But then another thought came to him, "What's the time?" He reached over to his ruined alarm clock, which was pointless, as it hadn't worked ever since he smashed it all those months ago "We need to get to school! I nee- "

"No Peter we don't have school today" Gwen said calmly.

"What do you mean? It's Thursday" Peter said.

"Actually," Gwen started "It's Friday afternoon… and since when do you care about school?"

"No, It's Thursday morning," Peter repeated bluntly, "And I do care about school"

"Do you seriously not remember anything?" Gwen asked, her eyebrows rising.

Peter stared for a moment, and slowly shook his head, wondering what it was he was supposed to be remembering.

Gwen started to fill him in, "Thursday morning you didn't turn up for chemistry, and then you were supposed to be in math, but turned up halfway through the lesson. You passed out in class-"

Peter groaned, "You're not serious?" he asked, this was beginning to make more and more sense as his head cleared. Small details started coming back to him.

Gwen nodded, "I am. Peter what happened Wednesday night?"

Peter strained his memory, thinking back to Wednesday, which didn't seem so long ago.

"The usual?" he said, now feeling uncertain.

"And?" Gwen prompted.

"I left home, swung around the city for a bit, got in a fight with some idiots, but other then that it was pretty quiet and then- and then-" and then everything (or parts of it) came back to him. "I was attacked!" he said defiantly.

"By what?" Gwen said?

"The NYPD!" Peter said indignantly, "They set everything up! They set _me_ up!"

"And?" Gwen prompted again.

"And what?" Peter said incredulously, "The _police_ attacked me!"

"Since when can't you fight off police?" Gwen said.

Peter sent her a glare. This was their first conversation in close to a month and she was questioning his abilities. Peter wasn't going to tell her it was since they'd realized high voltage shocks were about the only thing to bring spider-man down.

"Obviously I can," He snapped, "Otherwise I'd be sitting in a prison cell, or maybe the asylum with Conners!"

Gwen cringed, whether it was at Peter's harsh tone or the mention of her old mentor, he didn't know. Probably both he decided. Good one Parker.

"Peter, you know what I mean," Gwen continued evenly.

The thumping behind his eyes was bearable now, almost completely dulled down and more and more was coming back to him. He cringed with some of the memories.

"Man, I was so _stupid,_" he snarled the words.

"How so?" Gwen asked.

"They must know I listen in on the police radio network," Peter explained

"Wait," Gwen held up a hand, "You listen in on the network? Firstly Peter, I'm sure that's illegal and secondly, how?"

Peter shot her a sheepish grin, "I may have… modified my phone"

Gwen sighed, "You are incorrigible"

Peter shrugged. "They set up a bank robbery," he snorted, "How imaginative. There would have been at least thirty officers, maybe more, they were everywhere"

"So I guess _that's _why you couldn't fight them off."

"Hey I did fight them off!" Peter started indignantly, "Just not as well as I would've liked"

"How'd you hit your head?" Gwen asked, to which Peter gave her a questioning look, "Oh you have a concussion by the way."

Peter groaned, "Awesome" He bit out sarcastically. Damn it. "It would have been when I hit the ground." Peter replied, looking away from Gwen. "I think they've found a weakness." He admitted quietly. Not sure why this embarrassed him.

Gwen's eyes widened "What do you mean?" she whispered.

"It's the second time they've used them and it's the second time its worked," Peter explained, "I can deal with pain, I don't think I feel half the things that get thrown at me, but the squad had… I suppose they're kind of like long distance Tasers, but stronger I reckon. Like an electric shock, but long lasting. Everything slows down, it's almost as if I can't move." Peter shuddered.

"That's no normal electric shock, Peter" Gwen said, earning a nod from Peter.

"They got me as I was leaving, I think," Peter said, straining his memory, "I must have hit the ground pretty hard or something."

"How did you get away?"

Peter lifted his hands, "No idea,"

"And the cuts on your chest?" Gwen questioned

Peter frowned, pulling at the neck of his shirt to see the mark that was nothing more then a scratch by now, he didn't know how he got that one, but could take a fairly good guess. The other smaller ones looked like week old paper cuts, he knew they would be completely faded by tomorrow.

"More or less of them will have probably been self inflicted." He explained, "I do stupid things, which end up with stupid consequences."

Peter cast around for another topic.

"So if it's really Friday afternoon, does that mean I've just been, what, asleep since yesterday morning?"

The corners of Gwen's lips twitched upwards, "Not exactly, no."

"What do you mean?" Peter asked, not liking that she was obviously amused.

"I don't know exactly what happened leading up to this, but when class finished, I was walking down the hall and your class was all grouped around the door," Gwen started, "Sally told me 'you'd gone all weird'"

"What? What do you mean 'gone all weird'?" Peter asked, exasperated.

"Peter you were on the floor, with a gash on your face and your pupils different sizes,"

Peter reached up and touched his cheekbone "Are they-?"

"Yes, they're back to normal now," Gwen leaned forward slightly, examining his face, with a slight amazed look in her eyes, "and you wouldn't even know you'd had a cut on your face yesterday, which was really deep by the way"

Peter shrugged, "I'm a quick healer" he mumbled.

"Anyway," Gwen continued, "Flash was there too, along with Mr. Cramer and the nurse. You-"

"Wait, what?" Peter said, "_Flash_? As in Flash _Thompson?_"

"Yes, you kept trying to go to sleep, they thought Flash might keep you awake"

Peter groaned and covered his face in his hands. "Before, when you said I haven't been asleep, you meant I've said things, haven't I?"

Gwen nodded, a slight smile gracing her features. Peter couldn't help but notice how beautiful her smile was. He gave his head a slight shake.

"It was quite adorable really." Gwen said matter-of-factly, to which Peter shot her another glare. It had no effect, Gwen's smile just grew.

"You kindly reminded Flash of all the times he's shoved you in a locker," Gwen snickered.

Peter groaned. This was just getting better and better.

"I didn't say anything about," Peter shifted his eyes, "You know… spider stuff?"

Gwen's eyes narrowed and a smile crept onto her face. She threw her head back and laughed, surprising Peter completely. "What?"

"Spider stuff?!" She said between giggles, "Sorry, not funny…" She said.

"I couldn't think of anything else" Peter said.

"I thought you were going to say something about it, but you didn't," Gwen said.

Peter gave a relieved sigh.

Gwen continued to smile, "Anyway, your Aunt picked you up from school around half past one yesterday, got your head checked out, and brought you back here," Gwen said, "And I may have stayed the night…" Gwen said, wondering what Peter thought of this, "The doctor told us we should wake you up every now and then, to check your concussion wasn't getting worse."

Peter cringed, "You didn't have t-"

Gwen shook her head, "I wanted to." She said quietly, "And anyway, maybe I wasn't here for you, maybe I wanted to hang out with your Aunt." She teased, "She's great by the way," Gwen paused, before continuing gently "She's really worried about you Peter"

Peter looked away. "Did you go to school today?" he asked, changing the topic.

Gwen nodded, "I just came by to see how you and your aunt were doing. I actually came up here to wake you up, like your Aunt has been doing all day, but you kind of woke yourself up" Gwen said, "Like, actually woke up, as in, you finally said something logical."

Peter stared, "Logical?"

"At around four this morning you suggested we go ice skating."

There was silence for a moment, before they both started laughing together. Really laughing. This was _easy_. Despite hardly talking for a month, this was natural.

_Leave Gwen out of it. _He barely heard the words of the late captain, but they were there all the same. Peter cringed. But _what_ was he supposed to leave Gwen out of at the moment?

Gwen noticed his abrupt change, her eyes widening. "Are you alright?" she asked, assuming he was in pain.

Peter jerkily nodded his head and stood up, feeling a strong desire to leap out the window, as he so often did, but couldn't in the circumstance. Gwen reached out a hand, "Hey…" she said softly, in comforting voice.

He spun on the spot, feeling trapped, for the first time, in his room. He walked over towards the door, sinking down to the floor in the corner next to it and pulling his legs up to his chest. He looked up to see Gwen silently watching him, having not left her spot by the desk. He vaguely registered he'd doubled the distance between them. Good.

In frustration, he threw his head backwards against the wall.

That turned out to be a really dumb idea. He winced as black spots swam into his vision momentarily and covered his face with his hands.

"Peter!" Gwen exclaimed, coming forwards to kneel in front of him on the floor, "You. Have. A. Concussion!" She snapped, peeling his hands away from his face, but he recoiled from her touch.

"Gwen, I appreciate your help and stuff," Peter said, looking up into her eyes "I really do, but I can't do this, I can't"

Gwen reeled back, once more placing distance between them "You '_could'_ just a minute ago." Peter cringed at her tone.

"How many times are you going to do this, Peter?" Gwen asked,

"I can't-" he was interrupted.

"No, Peter, _I can't _take this. In English a month ago, you told me promises that could be broken were the best kind. That led no where." Gwen said, "I can't keep getting my hopes up like this Peter, it's exhausting. And I know you feel the same."

Peter blinked. He had to do this. "I don't feel the same." He lied bluntly.

Gwen laughed. But it was nothing like before. It was short and it was harsh. "You're half-conscious self said otherwise."

"What- What do you mean? What did I say?" Peter spluttered

"That's for me to know." Gwen said. "I get it Peter. He made you promise. I respect that you feel the need to keep it, but what about me? Does it matter what I want?"

"Of course it does!" Peter said quickly.

"Then consider what I want." Gwen said, her voice softening, "If I can't be with Spider-man, then just let me be with Peter Parker."

Peter gave her a slight smile and half joked, "You know I _am_ Spider-man, right?"

Peter wished it were that simple. Even though he felt like an entirely different person once he put on the mask, felt as if he led two different lives, they were led by one person and forever intertwined. It just wasn't that simple.

"I'm no good for you, Gwen. It wouldn't end well."

She turned her face away and Peter looked down at the floor as silence descended upon his words.

Peter awkwardly tugged at his wrists again, starting to worry he had no idea where his web-shooters and suit were. Gwen noticed, standing up, walking back to the desk and reaching under it. "Your biocables are in the bag," she said, her face an expressionless mask, "Which reminds me, you should seriously lock your locker"

Peter made a face, "Right" he said, standing up too and sitting back down on the bed.

The door cracked open slightly, as Aunt May quietly poked her head into the room, "Is everything- Peter!" She said, dropping all pretences of being quiet, "You're awake!" She crossed the room at a surprising speed, and pulled Peter into a crushing hug, "Is there any point in me asking what happened?" She asked as she pulled back, not letting go of her nephew's shoulders.

Peter shrugged, "Would you believe me if I told you I skated into a tree?"

Aunt May shook her head, "Not for a moment"

"Got hit by a car?" Peter tried.

"Peter Parker, that is _not_ funny" his Aunt scolded him.

Peter noticed Gwen looked rather surprised with the way his Aunt was accepting this.

"I had an argument with a grizzly bear?" Peter tried again.

Aunt may shook her head in exasperation, giving up "What am I ever going to do with you Peter?"

Peter shrugged again.

"This conversation is not over." Aunt May said as she began fussing over him, turning his face to the side. "Gwen, dear, do you need to be getting home?"

"Yeah, I've just," Gwen reached into her bag on the floor, "got to get something."

Aunt May looked at the two before leaving the room, mumbling something about getting water.

"This is what you missed today," Gwen said, gesturing to a large pile of notes, she paused. "Peter, promise me you wont go out tonight."

"I feel fine though" he replied, mentally cringing at the word promise.

"Peter it doesn't matter, at least give it another day. For normal people, concussions can take up to two weeks before the symptoms completely subside."

Peter gestured towards himself, "I'm not a normal person."

"No, you're not," Gwen teased, "You're far from normal, but just have a shot at being normal for one night. Please, for me."

"And what the hell am I meant to do?" Peter asked.

"Sleep, Aunt May will get suspicious if you don't play the part"

"Fine." Peter said, "Just for tonight though."

Gwen sighed, standing up and heading for the door. She turned the handle.

"Thanks for…" Peter trailed off, "The notes and stuff."

Gwen looked back at him, "Anytime,"

She took another step before halting and spinning on her foot, a stony expression in place.

"For the record, I'm not completely useless, you know, I can take care of myself."

And with that, she was gone.

Peter sighed, realizing just how tired he was beginning to feel. He fell backwards against the covers and thought about everything that had just happened.

Despite the fact he felt horrendously guilty for knowing he had obviously upset her this past month, he couldn't help feeling relieved.

He was worried she'd move on, forget about him or get sick of waiting. Even though he told himself it was better for both of them, he couldn't stand the thought of her with someone else.

He was oddly comforted that she didn't want to let him go either.

* * *

Drop me a review and let me know what you think, if you've got some time! Would love to hear your thoughts!

And again, sorry for the lateness of the update.

Also let me know what you think about the minor plot change... hope no one minds...


	6. Chapter 6

**Heres Chapter 6! It's a really short chapter - sorry - and I'm not entirely happy with it, but what can you do? meh. It's way too late I need to go to sleep... hope theres not to many mistakes... **

**I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter! Thanks for reading! **

**I do not own anything slightly spider-man related. la la la **

* * *

The weekend passed uneventfully for Peter.

Aunt May finally relented, letting him actually go downstairs to eat mid Saturday, but continued to throw him concerned glances the remainder of the weekend. He had the distinct feeling that she was trying to think up ways to get him to tell her _exactly _what had happened, but at the same time she had been oddly accepting it.

He wished he could tell her. Keeping secrets from Aunt May was what hurt the most. Aunt May who lived by the philosophy that secrets have a cost, and here he was, withholding one. A rather important one.

He could tell she was worried. She had always worried about him, he knew that, but now it was almost palpable, he could feel it radiating off her with every word and glance.

Peter kept his promise to Gwen and stayed off the streets Friday night, and although he wouldn't admit it to her, he couldn't have put on the suit if he tried and ended up falling asleep soon after she had left. He was just so tired.

He had gone out Saturday night though, but was careful to stick to the shadows and draw no attention to himself unless absolutely necessary to avoid another police fiasco. If only the cops would learn to trust him. Idiots.

More then several times, he found himself distracted thinking about Gwen, subconsciously heading towards her family apartment. He couldn't stop thinking about what she had said, and he had to admit, she'd had a point. He'd been so preoccupied trying to abide by her father's last request he'd never stopped to consider what she had wanted. He realized that was stupid now. He had initially avoided her, afraid that she would blame him for what happened, as he did himself. More realistically, he was avoiding the guilt. He was responsible, and at the time, he believed there was nothing he could do that would ever repair the damage that _he_ had created, but perhaps he could have, by just being a friend to Gwen. And that was where the promise came into action. _Leave Gwen out of it. _

What was he supposed to do? What was the _right _thing to do?

Sunday rolled over and turned into Monday as Aunt May explicitly refused to allow Peter to return to school, saying it was 'Doctor Loris's' orders.

Peter didn't hear from Gwen once. He wasn't sure exactly where there conversation had left them of Friday and wasn't looking forward to finding out when he returned to school.

So now it was Monday night and Peter found himself sitting in the kitchen with Aunt May, eating extra helpings of food whilst she insisted he was to skinny for his own good. He complied, resulting in an increase to Aunt May's happiness and a decrease with her worrying.

They often ate in the kitchen now, rather then the dining table. It was an unspoken agreement between the two of them, for the table that was intended to sit three, now, only sat two, making it painfully obvious that Uncle Ben was not with them. And neither of them was ready to accept that.

Peter grabbed another slice of garlic bread and bit into it, looking up to notice his Aunt studying him quietly. He knew what questions were about to be thrown his way and was just as completely at a loss of how to answer them, as he had been last time.

"Gwen's a nice girl." Aunt May stated.

Peter blinked. _That _wasn't what he expected.

"Don't you think?" his Aunt prompted

"Yeah" Peter replied quickly, "Real nice."

"She's the one that came to the house a couple of weeks ago, right?" at Peter's nod she continued, "You said you were no good for her."

Peter shrugged, feigning interest in the stove.

"I've said it before, I'll say it again, if there's anything you are Peter, its good." She reached out and took his hand.

Aunt May smiled, "She was very keen to help, is there… anything going on between the two of you?"

Peter shook his head frantically. A little too fast, he realized just a little too late. His Aunt's face split into a triumphant grin.

"There is, isn't there?" She was almost bouncing in her seat.

"No" Peter addressed his fork.

"Peter, I have eyes." Aunt May pushed.

Peter sighed, "There _might _have been something going on before, but definitely not anymore." Was he actually talking about a _girl_ with his Aunt?

"It's obvious you care about her." His Aunt ruthlessly continued, "And it's obvious she cares about you. I don't think many girls would willingly volunteer to routinely wake up a delirious teenage boy through un-godly hours of the night"

"It wouldn't work out." Peter tried.

Aunt May sighed, fixing Peter with a knowing stare, "That's because you won't let it work out, Peter."

"I heard about her father." Aunt May said quietly. "Be a friend to her, I suspect she needs it."

Peter nodded.

Aunt May sighed. "I worry about you, Peter" she said, "You spend too much time alone, you think too much. You deserve some happiness."

His Aunt patted his hand once before standing up and moving over to the sink to begin washing up.

For a moment, Peter could do nothing but sit.

Was it really so bad if Peter tried to make Gwen happy, receiving happiness in return? After all isn't that what every father would want above all else for his daughter? Pure happiness?

He supposed keeping them away from genetically screwed up teenagers would be rather high up on the list too. Stupid spider. He didn't mean that.

Peter rose from his seat, adding the remainder of the dishes to the pile next to the sink and grabbed a tea towel to help. He saw that his Aunt was about to protest, so he beat her to it.

"I want to help." He said, and left it at that as he took a plate from her hands and began drying it.

It was like old times, when Peter and his Aunt would cook together, or more likely, he would do the taste testing while Aunt May did all the work. Then they would clean up together, in comfortable silence, with Uncle Ben reading or sitting in front of the TV in the next room.

He realized he'd begun to leave a lot to his Aunt lately and felt a wave of guilt come rolling in. He wanted to try and restore some balance in the dynamics of the household, but had no idea how. He supposed learning to juggle his double life in a slightly more efficient manner would be a good way to start, but he wasn't entirely confident on how to do that either.

He realized Aunt May had stilled beside him, as if she knew too, how similar this was to old times. Peter was taken by surprise as she turned and enveloped him in a hug, his arms remaining by his side for a moment before returning the gesture.

For the remainder of the night, instead of returning to his room, like he usually did, Peter spent it with his Aunt. They switched on TV and watched pointless sitcoms.

Neither was paying attention to what was on the screen and neither felt the need to talk. Peter reveled in his Aunts company, and he knew she felt the same; comforted by each other's presence.

* * *

Peter woke up early the next morning; a result of his Aunt's reluctant agreement allowing him to return back to school. He wasn't sure which option was worse; enduring another day stuck in the house – Aunt May had the day off, so there was no chance of leaving - or facing, what he was sure to be, a bunch of overly curious students back at school.

He'd eaten breakfast – a rare occurrence – and was ready to leave, picking up his bag and skateboard off the floor in the kitchen. He entered the hall and was about to go out the door when he heard an 'Oi!' shouted from behind him. He turned to see his Aunt practically fly off the stairs and come to a stop in front of him.

"What do you think you're doing?" She demanded.

She was definitely losing it, Peter thought. "Er… going to school?"

Aunt May rolled her eyes, "No, with this." She gestured towards the skateboard under his arm.

"I always skate to school" Peter replied.

Aunt May fixed him with a firm stare. "Not with a concussion you don't."

Peter knew he was fine, he could just tell. But apparently _normal_ people took a lot longer to get over concussions. "I'm fine now," He said, "Honestly."

"Hand it over." Aunt May said, outstretching her hand.

Peter sighed, but obliged. "You know, I'm more of a danger to myself walking anyway?"

Aunt May smiled. "You got injured skating _into a tree _- which for the record I didn't believe for a second, but all the same, you've got to stick to your story Peter"

"I'll be late" Peter tried.

"Then you'd better get going" Aunt May replied.

Damn it. Utterly outsmarted. He opened the door and stepped out, appreciating that the weather had chosen to be friendly today.

"Be careful!" he heard his Aunt shout. He waved to show he'd heard and set off for Midtown Science High, for what he was sure was to be, a very long day.


	7. Chapter 7

Gwen opened her locker, doing her best not to be irritated by all the people, unnecessarily milling about, walking slowly and just being so damn _irritating. _

She wasn't even sure why she was in such a bad mood, she rarely was. She supposed a certain stubborn Peter Parker had something to do with it.  
She heard an obvious cough from just behind her, and before turning, had a pretty good idea of who might be requesting her attention.

She turned around, a scowl in place. Yep. There was Missy Kellenback. Again.

Ever since Peter's little 'incident' on the previous Thursday, the entire student body had been buzzing with ruthless rumors and speculation, and many had the nerve to come and demand the truth from Gwen, none more forthright then Missy.

"Have you heard from Peter yet?" her eyes were wide as she asked what she had every day throughout Peter's absence. At least three times a day to be more accurate.  
Gwen clenched her teeth. "No" she lied as she had to every other question.

Missy's eyes grew wider, if that were possible, strangely magnified behind her glasses as they focused on something over Gwen's shoulder and a momentary silence echoed through the halls before it was replaced with muffled whispers again.

Gwen turned around, and sure enough, there was Peter, looking oddly mystified by the attention he was receiving as he tried to press on through the crowd.

Gwen's frustration dissipated when she saw him, as it always had. Her eyes locked onto Peter's for a moment. He bit his lip and returned his gaze to the floor, willing to press on past Gwen as he had the rest of the students.

Well, she wasn't going to make the effort if he wasn't – but then he stopped, turned on his heel and walked back towards her.

"Hey" was all he said.

"Hey" Gwen replied.

"Hey Missy" Peter gave a small wave and smile to the other girl.

Missy blushed. "I was- I'm just- class- going… now." She turned without saying another word and practically fled down the hall, merging into the crowd.

Peter gaped after her, "What did I do?"

Gwen glared after her, "I think you've got an admirer" she couldn't help the slight bitterness to her tone and felt bad for it. It's not like she thought she _owned _Peter, but still, he was off limits, to everyone. Except for her of course.

"She's been asking about you everyday", Gwen explained.

Peter responded with a small 'oh' and a thoughtful expression plastered over his face, before shrugging. He took a look around the hall, at the students who were staring at him. They hastily lowered their gazes and began muttering to one another. Peter looked questioningly towards Gwen.

"You should know, a few rumors have been formulated."

Peter raised his eyebrows and a smile tugged at the corners of his lips, "any good ones?"

"Yep" Gwen grinned, "They've all decided you must be spider-man."  
"_What?_" Peter spluttered, looking desperately around, "How, did-"

"I was kidding." Peter visibly relaxed, and she continued, "But I actually did hear someone throw that theory around the cafeteria on Friday…"

"And?" Peter prompted

"It's the hardest I've ever heard anyone laugh" Gwen finished

Peter smiled, "Am I really that pathetic?"

"Apparently so" Gwen confirmed. Peter fixed her with a mock wounded expression.

"Any other good rumors?"

"Lots" Gwen replied. "You're a gangster, a drug dealer, ninja and get abused, but definitely not spider-man."

Peter snorted, "How imaginative. What have you got first?" he asked, changing the topic.

"_We _have got English." Gwen corrected him.

"Seriously?" Peter scrunched up his face, "English sucks."

Gwen momentarily thought that it was rather amusing that Peter Parker, A.K.A Spider-man, found trivial things such as class to whine about. She smiled.

"Come on," She encouraged, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him towards his locker whilst he grumbled, but when they reached it, Peter made no attempt to open it, instead, he turned his face towards Gwen.

"About Friday," Peter started after a prolonged pause. Gwen braced herself for the everything's-too-bloody-dangerous lecture, and fixed him with steely eyes.

"Er, Thanks." he said uncertainly, "And I'm sorry."

_That _hadn't been what Gwen was expecting, "You're… sorry." she repeated slowly.

Peter shifted his gaze to the floor and scuffed his right foot along the ground.  
"You were right, you know- you're always right" he added as an afterthought, with a thoughtful nod, "I didn't consider what you wanted, and-" he stopped, biting his lip, looking up from the floor and into her eyes tentatively, "I'm sorry for leaving you after… everything happened"

Gwen blinked rapidly, knowing exactly what Peter meant by 'everything'_. _It had been painful- No, more than painful. It had been _agonizing_ trying to come to terms with her fathers death, and she wasn't sure she had truly accepted it now. But losing Peter? In a strange way, that had been worse. She had been depending on him. Fixed on believing he could somehow heal her. And then he had left.  
But she wasn't stupid, and so knew not to be spiteful. She understood why he had felt the need to stay away; to keep her father's dying promise. As hard as she tried, she couldn't be angry with him, because she knew he'd just been trying to do the right thing.

Oh god, was she going to cry? She willed herself not to.  
"I-" Peter stopped and took a deep breath, "I need you Gwen. But I understand if- after everything I've done-"

Gwen pulled Peter into a hug, not letting him finish his statement. He didn't respond at first, seemingly shocked, and she was worried she'd crossed whatever new boundaries had been established in the last few minutes. But then he returned the hug wholeheartedly, pulling her closer and burying his face into her hair. Gwen noticed the majority of the students in the hall were watching, but couldn't bring herself to care.  
Peter pulled away, and she quickly swiped under her eyes with the back of her hand.  
"Lets just go back - back to being friends" Peter said, a small smile forming, "Like you said, just be with Peter Parker. We won't even _think_ of spider-man" he whispered seriously, "anyway, he's an idiot"

Gwen laughed, "A complete idiot" she agreed. The first bell went, and the students began to disperse to their various classes, Gwen's eyes widened.

"Get your books!"

"Do I have to?" Peter whined.

Gwen just pushed him out of the way and got them from his locker herself. She snatched up his bag from the ground and turned on her heel.

"Hey!" came an indignant, yet amused shout from behind her. He caught up and snatched back his books and bag. "I get it, you love class."

Gwen rolled her eyes, "I do not _love _class."

"Whatever." He laughed "I just realized, I'm going to be _early_ to class"

"That's a first"

This friendly banter came so easily. With Peter, everything was natural, everything was _right._

They reached the class before the second bell had even sounded and were amongst the first to enter the classroom. They made their way to their respective seats, Gwen one row in front of Peter.

Miss Ritter briefly acknowledged them before doing a double take. "Mr. Parker, this is an interesting development," she stated incredulously, "you should try and make a habit of it."  
Peter just shrugged. Gwen noticed he was doing that a lot lately.

The rest of the class filed in, a few obviously staring in Peter's direction. Gwen wished they would all just leave him alone.

"Who would like to remind us all what we established in our last class?" Miss Ritter asked the students at large, once everyone was seated. "No takers? Alright, open your notebooks-"

There was a knock at the door, and the woman from the student services office shuffled into the room, and handed a note to Miss Ritter, before hastily shuffling out again. Miss Ritter glanced over the note before looking up, "Mr. Parker?" she requested.

The class focused their attention on Peter, turning in their seats to get a good look at him.

"Yeah?"

"Mr. Williams wants to see you in his office."

"Why?"

"The note does not say."

Peter sighed. He gathered his books, shoving them into his bag and slinging them over his shoulder. The class started whispering again and Gwen watched as he left the class room, wondering why he was wanted in the year level coordinators office.

"He'll be expelled for sure" Chris, a dumpy kid who sat beside her theorized to the room at large.

Gwen turned around and hissed, "He's not being _expelled_". A few students sniggered at the interaction.

"We'll see" was Chris's smug response before Miss Ritter resumed class and left Gwen seething.

Peter walked down the now deserted hall towards the year level coordinators office, wondering what the hell he had done to be requested in the first place. He figured it had to do with the fiasco known as last Thursday.

Soon after his uncle's death, Mr. Williams had requested a meeting with Peter via email, which he had ignored. He figured the man had purposely set it up that he got the message in front of multiple students so that he would have no choice but to go.

He knocked on Mr. Williams door and entered.

He was startled at first when he saw Miss Arrow, the school nurse occupying one of the chairs opposite Mr. Williams, she gave him a warm smile. Oh no. He knew exactly what this was about. He also knew it was going to be intensely awkward.

"Ah, Peter," Mr. Williams gestured for him to take a seat opposite him. "I trust you're feeling better?"

Peter lowered himself into the seat, placing his bag down on the floor next to him and gave a brief nod.

Mr. Williams picked up a tin and offered it to him "Have a biscuit." It sounded like an order and although not hungry in the slightest, he took one so as not to appear rude.

The teacher looked at him intently, "I'm sure you've realized this by now Peter, but I've called you here today to talk about a number of things, what happened on Thursday in particular. Miss Arrow has informed me that you turned up to school, badly injured and with a concussion. You also passed out, this is correct?"

Peter nodded, and looked for something to distract himself. He bit into the biscuit.

"First things first, were you injured on school grounds?"

Peter nearly snorted. Of course the school only cared whether he was injured on or off campus, they've probably been having panic attacks in his absence convinced he was going to sue them. "No, I was walking to school"

Mr. Williams clasped his hands together, "Good, good."

Peter failed to see what was good in this situation, he noticed Miss Arrow rearrange a significant amount of paperwork.

Miss Arrow spoke up, "Peter, we need to know what happened."

No, you really don't, he thought bitterly.

"How did the injury occur?" Mr. Williams asked

Shit. He didn't have a story ready, what had he told Aunt May? Practically nothing. "I was hit by a car" he said quickly. Probably not the best cover story, but it seemed to work.

Miss Arrow gasped and a hand flew to her mouth, before she scribbled down some notes on the remaining paperwork.

He quickly elaborated the story, saying that it had been a _complete _accident on the drivers behalf and that he had been quite friendly and even offered him a lift to school. No need to look into it further. Case closed. And somehow, due to some miracle, the story was accepted.  
"You should be more careful," Mr. Williams admonished. "So this occurrence has no relevance to other injuries you have sustained?"

Peter's eyes widened, "Other injuries, sir?" why did it even matter to the school? "I skate a lot."

Mr. Williams shook his head; "I don't see what it is with kids and reckless behaviors these days."

Peter hardly thought skateboarding was considered reckless, especially in comparison to his other behaviors. Again, the story was accepted and he was beginning to think that this meeting really was only called to make sure Peter was injured off campus and not going to sue the school. Cowards.

"Thank you Miss Arrow" The man said to the nurse, "I'll speak with Peter alone from here on."

Miss Arrow stood and left.

Mr. Williams leant forward in his seat, elbows resting on his desk and addressed Peter.

"I understand," he began, "since you lost your uncle, that things may have been… difficult."

Peter looked away; he still wasn't ready to think about that, he wasn't sure if he ever would be.

"But Peter, you are here on a scholarship. A scholarship that many other students missed out on, and you're wasting it."

There was a pause, and Peter was sure he was supposed to say something, so he mumbled a 'sorry'.

"I've received multiple complaints from you're teachers, where I used to hear praise. Peter, you are a smart kid. Don't throw that away."

Peter nodded. It wasn't like the man was yelling, but it hurt all the same as he realized just how unbalanced his life and priorities had become.

"You should know, you're close to failing your attendance levels."

Peter's head snapped up, "Attendance levels?"

"Yes, you need an 80 percent attendance score to pass the year."

"Since when?" Peter exclaimed.

"Since always" Mr. Williams returned.

Peter fumed. It would have been helpful if someone had _told _him this before he was about to fail. "Then wouldn't it make sense if I was actually in class now?" he asked angrily.

"You had a reason to not be in class today, and you've been marked present"

Peter felt like saying there was always a reason if he wasn't in class, because there was. And they were bloody important reasons he thought.

Mr. Williams leant away from the table and opened a drawer to his left, digging through files and pulling one out. He opened it and scanned it. "You're grades have been slowly descending" he said, before looking up at Peter.

Peter nodded. He knew this. For a while, back when 'everything began' he'd lost motivation for school completely, not caring at all about anything, especially his grades. But he had slowly regained some of that motivation, just not all of it and it truly was difficult to juggle a double life and find time for study.  
"I've decided that you're attendance levels – as well as you're grades – are to be closely monitored from now on. You have to remember how many students missed out on that scholarship. Do not waste this, you have potential." Mr. Williams fixed him with a stern glare, "I have also informed your teachers of this arrangement, who will report to me if your work is anything but satisfactory. Is that clear?"

"Yeah, yeah." Peter nodded. Stupid school.

"Good" Mr. Williams said, "Another thing, you still have to complete your community service."

Peter narrowed his eyes, "Community service?"

"For the incident with Mr. Thompson earlier this year which resulted in a broken backboard." Mr. Williams looked pointedly at him.

Urgh. He'd completely forgotten about that, "Why now?" He asked, "That was ages ago."

"I let it slide, considering," Mr. Williams made a sweeping gesture with his hands, "the events that closely followed that one."

Right. His uncle. Special teacher treatment.

"I don't make the rules, Mr. Parker, but I do try to follow them." He sent Peter an apologetic face, "Your behavior that day was unacceptable and it needs to be remedied. That's how these things work. Do the crime, you pay the time."

Peter just nodded, "When do I start?"

Mr Williams dug through a pile of paperwork, "Another senior is scheduled to start Monday after school next week," he looked up from the file, "That way we can rest assured you're no longer injured from the skating accident. Does that suit you?"

Peter just nodded again, "What will we be doing?"

"The senior science block needs a lot of clearing before it will be suitable for classes again, I expect you'll just be clearing away the mess from the break in last month."

Peter found it slightly amusing that 50% of that 'mess' was due to him; he'd probably caused as much damage as the lizard, yet his community service was the result of one demolished backboard. Maybe karma did exist.

"Cool. I'll be there."

He vaguely wondered how he was supposed to improve his grades and attendance levels with this added complication.

Peter began to gather his bag to leave, but he was signaled to stay put.

"Last thing," Mr. Williams handed him a pink slip of paper, "This is your appointment with the guidance counselor."

Peter shook his head "I didn't make an appointment" he said quickly, he just wanted to go back to class.

"I know. I did. I think you will find it beneficial."

Peter sent the man a disbelieving look and Mr. Williams' face softened.

"Peter, you've had a rough year, I truly think you will find this helpful."

So despite his better judgment, Peter was dismissed and five minutes later found himself sitting opposite the smiling guidance counselor in her office. And it was absolutely foul.

The walls were covered in posters all promoting happiness and describing emotions. The room was literally a rainbow and to top it all off, the bright blue armchair he was sitting in was so squishy he thought it might eat him. Even the woman's hair added to the spectrum, as it was practically fluro orange. He shuddered.

"Hello…" the woman looked down at her notes through red rimmed spectacles, "Peter!" She finished. Smooth. You would think she would know his name before he got there.

"I'm Mrs. Dallis, but most students call me Ellen." She smiled sickly at him as if he were a three year old.

"Right." Peter said distractedly, still trying to take in the rainbow explosion that was this room.

"Tell me about your self." She said casually.

"What?"

"What do you like doing?" she continued, looking at him expectantly.

"Er, I like science?" he replied. How the hell could this be considered useful?

"Great." She smiled warmly at him again.

She looked down at her notes again, "I understand you live with your aunt and uncle, yes?"

Peter stared, "Just my aunt." he corrected.

Mrs. Dallis – or was he supposed to call her Ellen? - Looked shocked for a moment, "Of course, of course. Sorry dear."

He heard her mutter 'uncle: deceased' as she underlined something on her page. Seriously? He thought he could do a better job at this guidance stuff than she could.

"May I ask why?"

"Sorry?"

"Why you live with your Aunt, not your parents? Did something happen to them?"

Peter stared. He thought it was pretty obvious something had happened to them, considering they _weren't around._

"My parents left when I was very young." Peter automatically responded. It was what he had always told anyone who asked about his parents, because the truth was, that was about as much as he knew, and it was easier than saying they had been killed. By now he knew enough to be skeptical about his parent's disappearances.

"You poor dear," she smiled sweetly again, "Would you like to talk about that?"

"Not really" Peter replied honestly, he didn't want to discuss that with anyone.

The woman looked bristled for a moment, before quickly returning to the 'I-care-about-everyone' charade. She referred back to her notes.

"What about what happened with your uncle? Would you like to talk about that?"

"Nope"

She scribbled something down again.

"Well then, moving on." She said quickly "Mr. Williams has told me you often turn up to school with minor injuries."

Peter almost rolled his eyes. Since when were adults so observant? It was annoying.

She leant forward. "Sometimes, Peter, people find themselves in _situations_." She stopped and gave Peter a knowing look, as if he knew exactly what 'situations' she was referring to. He didn't.

"Er, sorry?"

"Peter, dear, you can tell me." She said quietly.

"Tell what?"

'Ellen' sighed. "Sometimes people become part of a… bad group… and might to _bad _things" she looked at him expectantly again.

"I'm not part of any _bad group!" _he exclaimed "And I'm not doing _bad _things. I really have to go to class."

"Peter, at your age, its natural to want to take risks and to be a rebel," she continued, "Especially with a past like yours, it's highly understandable, but you need to consider your future! You need to make sure you make the right choices. I can help you there." She leant forwards, her orange hair standing out against the purple wall behind her.

He'd had enough and stood up, ignoring her protests, picked up his bag and made to leave. He accidentally gripped the door handle too tight, something he hadn't done in a long time and it parted with the door. He stared at it for a moment, before striding back to the desk and placing it in front of her with a quickly mumbled sorry as he left the room, and headed back to his English class.

Because really, he wasn't going to sit and listen to the head of year tell him he's failing his attendance levels and then be forced to sit through _that _crap.

He knew neither the guidance counselor nor Mr. Williams could help him. And besides, he didn't need any help. He just needed someone to understand and the only one who could do that, was Gwen.

His heart gave a nervous flutter as he thought back to their interaction this morning. He still didn't understand if what he had done was the right thing, but what he did know was that he had made some sort of unspoken promise to Gwen, and he wasn't going to turn back on it; this was a promise he would definitely keep.

* * *

**Hi guys! sorry for the delay... I really don't like this chapter, I might read it again in a couple of hours and it will probably change. I'd love to know what you thought of this chapter.**

**Also, when does everyone ind time to write? I find it so hard to find time and usually end up writing chapters at like 2 in the morning (perhaps that will explain some of the lack of cohesiveness) **

**If theres any mistakes... sorry :S **

**Au revoir amigos**


	8. Chapter 8

Peter forcibly reminded himself not to pull the door off the hinges of the English classroom, using what could be safely classified as non-genetically-screwed-up strength as he made his way back from the guidance counselor's office.

The 'meeting' had set him on edge.

That it would be '_beneficial'_, as Mr. Williams had said, had been the overstatement of the century, and _now_ he was even further behind in class than before – if that were even possible.

He inched open the door and tried to quietly make his way back to his seat, but to no avail. The majority of the class stared. Some dumpy kid next to Gwen sent him a scowl. Miss Ritter sent him one of her famous smiles. He'd always thought she'd been an awesome teacher.

Gwen sent him a questioning look; he rolled his eyes in response, and gave his head a slight shake.

It turned out he had missed the majority of the lesson. But on the _bright_ side, he'd caught what the homework for the week was. Awesome.

He scribbled it across his hand and made a mental note to bring some sort of planner tomorrow considering he actually had to do homework now. Probably a lot of it, too.

With the bell signifying the end of class, Gwen sent Peter a smile before making a beeline for her next lesson, he did the same. Maybe if he imitated her manner towards school he'd actually do some learning and stuff. With photography scheduled next, he headed for the visual arts department.

Despite being a self-proclaimed geek for science, Peter had always had a passion for photography. He didn't really understand why; and he wouldn't go as far to call himself 'arty', but from a young age, he'd loved to document his surroundings with cheap, disposable cameras and it turned out he'd been pretty good at it.

Despite his passion for science, photography had been Peter's favorite subject. Back when he actually put effort into school that was.

His favorite teacher took the subject, and Peter experienced a series of waves of guilt as he looked at him with concern before smiling warmly. He'd seriously neglected this class since, well, he was bitten by some random wacko spider that just so happened to have been engineered by his father. During this class, he'd either been asleep or skived off completely for the past few months, but considering recent events – a.k.a. Mr. Williams stalking his grades - sleep was definitely not on the cards for any of his classes now.

He actually listened for once and it turned out he had a final folio coming up. Of course. He added it to the ever growing mental to do list that was slowly burning the free space in his mind.

At least this was one thing he would enjoy doing. Already, ideas and possibilities for his final folio theme were surfacing in his conscious mind, all begging for attention and experimentation. Fun, crazy ideas that had the potential to be _awesome_. If only he had a camera.

Once-upon-a-glorious-time, he'd had two. Two _really _nice cameras, at that. The first (a vintage film camera) was broken – indirectly – by Flash Thompson, the second destroyed – and he meant _legit destroyed – _by the Lizard. And cameras were not cheap. Not. At. All. Not the good ones, anyway.

He added that to the list. _Need a camera. _He supposed he'd need to scrounge up the money first. Or maybe the damage to his SLR was fixable? It was definitely worth a shot.

They went through the years theory as a class and throughout the entire lesson, Peter was restless for recess, but dreading it at the same time, wondering just exactly, what the hell he had signed onto with Gwen and what boundaries, if any, applied between them.

Gwen was already at Peter's locker when he reached it, she looked at him tentatively as if daring him to contradict what he'd said this morning. He gave himself a mental kick in the face – even though he wasn't entirely sure how that would be physically possible – for giving her so many reasons to be distrustful of him.

"Yo." He said. Yo? Since when did he say _Yo?_

Gwen raised her eyebrows disbelievingly, "You're a dork." she shook her head side to side. He could have sworn he saw a ghost of a smile grace her lips as she looked down.

"So's your face." He replied. Man, he was on a roll. What the hell did that even _mean?_ Gwen gave him a weird look, as if worried for his sanity. He decided he'd be safe to put his books in his locker. And hide behind the door for a moment.

He closed the door and tentatively looked to his right. Gwen was staring at him and he wasn't entirely sure what to do. What should he say? How should he act? How far back was the Captain's line that he'd already long crossed? He should retreat now, whilst he has the chance.

"So," Gwen said, rolling around the word, glancing to her side, "yeah." She finished.

"Lets go outside," Peter said quickly, "weather's wicked today."

Gwen nodded. Why were they so awkward? He supposed it was the numerous unanswered questions and their unwanted presence in the air between them.

Finding some uninhabited patch of grass they sat down with a sizable distance between them as if some invisible line separated them; a line that Peter wanted to cross but knew that would go against their unspoken moral code. The captains dying wish.

The space between them was dangerous; charged.

Uncharted waters, that with one wrong move could send them flailing beyond these nice, comfortable, tame boundaries that had been so carefully drawn, but at the same time seemed so insignificant.

"What did Mr. Williams want?" Gwen asked, breaking the silence.

Peter grimaced, "What didn't he want?" he thought back to their meeting, "First of all, it was of _utmost _importance that it was clarified I wasn't injured at school and planning on suing them." He snorted and Gwen rolled her eyes, "Second, he had a go at me for wasting my education," he made mock quotation marks in the air, and Gwen seamed about to protest but Peter cut her off, with a hand up in the air "Which was totally called for. I really haven't done anything for school in months."

Gwen shrugged one shoulder, "It's been a pretty hectic year."

Peter nodded, "Yeah, but apparently I'm failing the 80% required attendance levels."

"I didn't know they put a number on it." Gwen said with a thoughtful expression.

Peter shrugged, "Pretty much, he just warned me they'll know if I'm not here and I have to pull my grades back up." He made a face and scratched above his eye, "I don't even know where to start, I'm behind in every subject. And then I have – you know, other stuff to do."

Gwen punched him in the arm lightly, a smile – a beautiful smile, Peter noted – lighting up her feautures, "We can have study dates!" she paused for a second, before blanching, "I mean, you know, not dates. Unless you – Not dates. Study." This all came out very quickly.

Peter opened his mouth to say something, but Gwen cut him off, "Study and dates have _no_ relation to each- I didn't mean- word association places them in completely different categories! Lets just- No." She seemed to come to a dead end in her argument and abruptly stopped talking, colour flooding her cheeks.

Peter watched her amusedly, "Study dates sound awesome." He said simply.

Gwen smiled, looking flustered, which was odd considering that role had always been played by _him._

"Saturday?" she breathed the word tentatively.

"My place?"

"10am?"

Peter stuck out his hand, "Deal. It's a _study _date."

Gwen returned the handshake, "Deal." That smile – that _amazing _smile – returned to her face. Peter had to give his head a shake.

They were still holding hands.

Even now.

And even still, now.

Peter looked down and back up to Gwen's eyes. They let go of the shake hastily, each looking in different directions.

After another passing moment of silence, Gwen looked back to Peter, "Surely all that didn't take nearly an hour? You know, the education wasting lecture and all."

Peter shook his head with distaste, "Nah, then he sent me to the guidance counselor." He shuddered; he thought he might need therapy just for the time spent in that room. He'd seen a rather diverse range of terrifying things, but that room and that woman, just topped off that list.

"Why?"

He shrugged, "Williams thought it would be _beneficial._" He snorted.

"What did you talk about?" Gwen asked.

Peter shot her a cynical look, which was mistaken by Gwen.

"Oh, I'm sorry. That's not exactly what you're supposed to ask. I'm just-"

"Nah, nah, its funny," Peter laughed at her response, "It was an… experience. Complete load of crap though." He leant back, stretching his legs out on the grass in front of him and thought back to their _session,_ "We didn't talk about much to be honest, she tried to convince me that I was in a _bad _group with _bad _people. She didn't even know my name, I mean, aren't they meant to do their research or something?"

Gwen snorted, "Probably." She looked thoughtful for a moment, "So she didn't try to go all deep and meaningful on you? She did with me."

Peter nodded, "Oh, she tried." He paused for a moment, "Wait, what?"

Gwen shrugged, "Mr. Williams thought it would be _beneficial_." She said, repeating Peter's words from earlier.

"Was it?" he felt a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"Not in the slightest." They both snorted at that before a silence – finally a comfortable silence - settled between them once more, Peter tipped his face back, closing his eyes, drinking in the sun.

"She tried to get me to talk about my parents," he said out of nowhere, Gwen stilled and looked at him tentatively.

"But I wouldn't even know what to say even if I wanted to." He looked at Gwen, trying to look indifferent but could feel his face pulling into a pathetic grimace, "I honestly have no idea about what the hell happened. At all. About anything." He said the last part bitterly.

Gwen remained silent, not entirely sure how to respond. It wasn't like she could really help with that, as much as she wished she could.

Peter rearranged his features, shook his head and smiled, "That's about as far as out cute little D'n'M got. What was up with the room?"

Gwen went along with the subject change, giving a theatrical shudder, "The room? What about the hair? It's terrifying"

Peter held up a hand, "Don't even get me started on the hair." He remembered the other part of his meeting with the year level coordinator, "Oh yeah, Mr. Williams also gave me community service."

Gwen eyebrows rose, "Community service?"

"Yeah, you know, when I broke the basketball backboard," he began, "that whole incident with Flash before he… weirdly… and inexplicably became my… sort-of friend?" He paused for a moment, noticing how weirdly the words 'Flash' and 'Friend' sounded when used conjunctively in a sentence.

"What have you got to do?"

Peter looked at her guiltily, "The science block… er, suffered worst with last months break in." He shrugged, "It only seems fair considering that I did most of the damage"

That wasn't entirely true, but neither felt the need to mention the lizard.

A proud smile lit up Gwen's face, "I did a bit of damage too." She fixed him with a smug, daring look.

"Gwen Stacy, _proud _of vandalizing school property?" Peter said incredulously, "You should have to join us!"

Gwen just gave him a shoulder bump, he hadn't even noticed that they had gotten closer. But they had, somehow.

Peter gave her a shoulder bump in return, which soon escalated into a fully fledged shoulder bump war.

"What are we doing?" Gwen asked between laughs.

Peter shrugged, "You started it." He sent her one more bump for good measure.

"Who else is doing community service, you said 'us'"

Peter thought for a moment, and realized he actually had no idea, "Don't know, they're a senior though." He hoped it would be someone pleasant if he had to spend 20 hours with him or her over the next couple of weeks. He pulled his bag around to in front of him and unzipped it to dig around for some food he was sure he'd grabbed that morning. He found four muesli bars and an apple.

He threw one of the bars over to Gwen, noticing she had no food.

"Hungry?" She asked as she caught the bar, plus sight of the other three, "Thanks" She added.

Peter just nodded, already tearing into the first bar, "I go through phases" he said through a mouthful of oats.

"What do you mean? And that's disgusting."

Peter shrugged, "I heal really fast – like _really _fast – and then I get hungry – _really _hungry." He shrugged again, already tearing into a second bar whilst Gwen was still unwrapping her first.

Gwen looked thoughtful for a moment, "I suppose that makes sense," she took a bite of her muesli bar and chewed, in a much more respectable, lady-like manner.

"The fast healing would use a lot more energy than normal. In fact everything you do probably burns more energy than the average person." She shrugged.

Peter nodded, "If I ever need to lose a few, I just need to get shot at first." It was an attempt at a joke, which apparently Gwen did not find amusing. At all.

Her eyes widened, "Don't even say that!" She spluttered, "How can- Peter, that's not funny."

"It is a little bit funny?" He tried weakly; at Gwen's 'look' he put his hands up, "Ok, Ok, not funny, I get it, I get it."

"You don't take anything seriously at all, do you?"

"Of course I do!"

She shook her head, "Anyway, you look like you could use some extra food." She said roughly, giving him a one over with her eyes, noticing the shallow area beneath his eyes and cheek bones, but also remembering how he'd looked last Thursday and the prominence of his ribs on his scarred chest.

"Hey!" Peter said indignantly, but a smile was playing at the corner of his lips.

"Peter, I'm serious," Gwen began, her expression reflecting her words, "You need to actually try to take care of yourself. You can get over what happened last week, but that doesn't mean I can."

"I do take-"

"If you wont do it for yourself, do it for your Aunt." Gwen looked at him, pleading, "She's worried about you."

Peter didn't argue, instead he pulled at the frayed edges of his shirt, "I know." He said genuinely, "I really do want to turn things around, you know? Fix everything I've screwed up." He looked pointedly at Gwen.

"Just start by taking better care of yourself." Gwen said, "Try to remember that you have to do some normal things amongst all the crazy ones."

He supposed that was a good place to start. He nodded his head and the mood lightened.

Peter began digging through his bag again, pulling out an array of various items, searching for his – most likely – non-existent timetable.

"_We_ have biology." Gwen said, almost as if she'd read his mind.

Peter stopped searching, "How do you do that, you're like a walking timetable."

"You tend to get familiar with your classes when you actually attend them." She said with raised eyebrows, "Do you even know the meaning of organization?" She asked, gesturing to the mess that has grown around them.

"Of course I know what it means!" He replied indignantly, "That doesn't mean it's a skill I possess!" He sent her a wild grin.

Gwen rolled her eyes, "You're a dork."

"So's your face." He quipped back quickly.

Gwen shook her head exasperatedly, standing up and offering him a hand, "What does that even _mean?_"

Aunt May had their small TV on quietly in the kitchen the next morning when Peter went downstairs.

"Hey," He greeted her before fishing through the pantry for some form of cereal that wasn't yet stale.

She smiled at him. Last night he'd came home from school and she'd fussed over him for almost an hour until she was sure the school day hadn't proven to be too 'strenuous', as she had put it. He'd told her about his meeting with the head of year and the community service he was scheduled to begin on Monday. He had also snuck out, late last night, in the suit, but nothing exciting happened.

He stopped a few low life criminals and set them up for a police pick up, making sure to be well on his way by the time they turned up, because _apparently_ they really didn't like him at the moment. Ungrateful losers. Why couldn't they get the hint that he was _trying to help?_

He grabbed the milk out of the fridge and fixed a bowl of cereal, sitting down opposite the TV, with Aunt May to his left, sipping quietly on her tea.

The muted anchor lady on the TV introduced a new segment and the screen cut to footage showing none other than the _amazing _spider-man being hit by long distance tasers and falling ungraciously to the ground. Man, it looked bad seeing it from this angle. Peter snatched the remote and turned up the volume as the footage cut to the New York Police Department entrance, with the title '_VIGILANTE; OFFICIAL NYPD STATEMENT' _scrolling across the bottom of the scene.

A policewoman was speaking, "-will now hand over to Steve Aarons who has been officially announced as the new NYPD Captain." She moved aside as the new captain took his place in front of the doors. Peter could tell straight away, this guy was going to be a complete pain in the ass; his gaze was practically burning a hole though the screen. He had a square jaw, angry eyes, and everything about him just screamed: _really unfriendly guy_.

There were flashes, shouts, questions and a general flurry as reporters fought to get their microphone the closest to the newly appointed Captain Aarons. He held his hands up, asking for silence. The noise diminished.

"This is the release of the New York Police Departments official statement regarding the masked vigilante going by the alias of Spider-man." He paused and looked down at the statement, "Last week at approximately 2:00 am on Wednesday morning the NYPD staged an attack to bring the vigilante to justice."

Their was an instant outcry from the crowd, the Captain held up his hands again, "As most of you would have seen, the plan failed. But rest assured," He looked directly into the camera - effectively into Peter's eyes - "We will not fail again." His voice was gravelly; sounding like a low growl.

Once more, he was cut off by general protest in the crowd, but this time it was not so easily silenced. Peter couldn't help the slight tug at his lips as he watched the officer become angrier at each passing moment of the crowds defense.

"You do not understand." He said evenly, yet with a tone that implied danger, finally regaining attention, "Spider-man is not a hero. He is a civilian, like yourselves, taking the law into his own hands. This. Is. Illegal!" He punctuated each word strongly, Peter could have sworn he saw some spit fly at one point.

There were several shouts, one of which proclaiming that Spider-man had done more for the city than the entire police team combined. The newly appointed Captain was now visibly furious. His face was turning steadily redder.

Peter happily ate some more cereal. This was prime entertainment, this guy possessed not one ounce of patience. Not one.

Then the Captain and his ridiculously short temper utterly lost it, he threw his hands up in the air, "_Spider-man_ is not to be idolized! He has _assaulted_ over thirty police officers. The damage that links back to him can be found all over _our_ city. We have reason to believe that he played a part in the creation of the Lizard and subsequently the biological attack that would have _ended out city_." He surveyed the crowd for a moment, they still didn't seem convinced.

"_Spider-man," _he said the title with distaste, "we know for a fact was an accomplice to murder. He is an outlaw. He will be- must be - brought to justice."

Peter was silent, along with the crowd, his spoon poised halfway between his bowl and his mouth as he processed what he had just heard. _Involved in murder?_ Surely they couldn't mean-? He'd felt bad enough blaming himself for George Stacy's death, but to be publicly named as an accomplice? That hurt. Bad.

He put his spoon down, pushing his cereal away.

He could feel Aunt May looking at him but he determinedly continued to watch the screen.

The captain gave a sarcastic "Thank-you" and returned his eyes slowly and forcibly back to his speech. "We have the _men_," - the female officer who had handed over to him looked visibly disgruntled at that - "We have the _technology_, we have the _ability_ and we have the determination to bring Spider-man to justice." He surveyed the crowd, "We're taking a new angle, working with those who encountered the individual who is believed to have been the vigilante before he adopted the mask and name."

Peter dropped his spoon at that, milk splashed up and hit him in the face. Shit. He was an idiot.

'_I've seen your face!' _that declaration from the early days, when he'd been hunting for his uncle's killer resurfaced in his mind. Were these the sort of people they were planning on working with? Those who had seen his face? Heard his voice? Those he had hunted if they even vaguely reflected the features of the man Peter had searched for so long? If so, he'd left to many clues - far to many hints.

He was royally screwed.

Captain Aarons continued, and Peter forced himself to listen, with a new grim but sharp attention.

"The arrest warrant established by Captain Stacy in June is still in effect but with added offenses." The captain surveyed the crowd as he continued, "Monetary rewards will be given to anyone who offers valuable information." He said this part offhandedly before looking straight into the camera once more, for the first time, giving what looked to be an attempt at a smile, only it looked like a snarl, "Spider-man, we are coming for you. And your identity. Enjoy freedom," He paused for effect, "whilst you still can." he retreated back through the departments front doors, ignoring requests from reporters, the woman from the start came forward once more, encouraging the journalists to leave, telling them there was nothing more to see or hear.

The screen cut back to the anchor room once more.

Peter gave his head a quick shake. If he'd thought the late Captain Stacy was bad, this man took _bad _to a whole new level. This week just continued to get better and better. He could just feel Aunt May staring him down with that knowing look, wondering what it was exactly that she _knew, _and hoping that it wasn't _that._

He felt shaky. Volatile. Insecure. A variety of things he didn't even know could be felt at the same time. He had to get out of the house. Get outside. Be distracted for a while just to put off the moment when he has to think through what he just heard.

What did he mean, _'we are coming for you and your identity?'_ that was the part that really shook him. He didn't care what they did to him. But with his identity revealed, what sort of risks would that place on his Aunt? On Gwen. The last remaining people on the earth that he had any real connections with.

Gwen. She would help him think this through and find some way to deal with it other than breaking a whole lot of stuff – which he was really tempted to do right now.

Peter stood up quickly, breakfast holding no appeal; he quickly cleaned his dish and headed for the door, picking up his skateboard – which Aunt May showed visual distaste towards – and his backpack.

"Be careful!" his Aunt barely had time to shout as he flung open the front door and jumped the steps, landing on his board.

"Will do!" he shouted back.

It worked; letting the long forgotten thrill of skateboarding distract him temporarily. He'd forgotten just how awesome skateboarding was, especially with his heightened abilities. He realized he couldn't remember the last time he'd been on a board, as web-slinging had taken priority – and of course nothing could beat that – but he felt guilty for neglecting his boards all the same.

At school, the entire community was buzzing with the police statement so recently released. He couldn't help but notice that less seemed to be defending him and more were openly questioning his morals. Peter tried to ignore them.

Gwen was waiting by his locker when he turned up, a frantic worry evident in her eyes, "Peter, I saw- I heard- They're not going to stop until-"

"I know," he said quietly glancing around, "I know, but_ I_ _can't _stop."

Gwen raised her eyes, "You're going to have to! Lie low for a while!"

He leaned down a bit, "What if I can, you know, gain their trust or something?" maybe if he proved to the police he was actually not a completely useless liability, they'd let him walk free.

Gwen shook her head, "Peter, did you see that man? He'd shoot you before you got the chance." She looked around shiftily, grabbed his hand and dragged him to a more deserted area of the locker bay, "What did he mean, 'we're taking a new angle' and they say you've been seen without a mask?"

Peter lifted his hands to his face but wasn't entirely sure what to do with them. He covered his eyes for a few seconds, squeezing them shut tightly. "It was ages ago. I was," he paused, "I was looking for the guy who- it doesn't matter. Point is, I never thought they'd link me to that." He let out a frustrated groan and looked back at Gwen, "Still, that's nothing for them to go on. There's millions of people in this city. Right?"

Gwen nodded, the warning bell sounded, "Just, make an effort to keep out of this new guys way." Gwen said as she retreated backwards.

"Happily." Peter replied with a salute and a weak attempt at a smile as he headed in the opposite direction.

There was no way Peter would cross Captain Aarons' path _ever _if he could avoid it.

Peter was distracted throughout his classes; especially in Biology with Gwen sending him increasingly worried looks every half-minute. These served as nothing close to comfort, with each glance a slap in the face, leaving Peter anxiously worrying about just how easily Gwen had once more become involved with Spider-man. Captain Stacy's words, that had finally began to fade were back on a constant loop in his head and louder than ever, but now they were mixed with Captain Aarons to create a sickening song that held no tune.

_You'll make enemies. Promise me something. Leave Gwen out of it. We are coming for you. Enjoy freedom whilst you can. We are coming for you._

This had really not been a good week so far.

* * *

**Hey guys - I hope you're still around! - I feel really awful for the slow update! Sorry! This chapter is a little longer to make up for it! I've actually had it written for two weeks, just hadn't had the time to edit and upload it (editing was pretty rough, so sorry about mistakes)**

**I've been madly studying for design and psych finals this past month. It's gross. **

**Also, if anyone read my one-shot 'nail polish' I thought you might be interested to know that the day after I posted that fic, I painted my nails rainbow. Or maybe thats totally irrelevant. **

**Hope the chapter was OK, let me know what you thought? I love all your reviews so much, they make me rather happy. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! **


End file.
